Wichita High Schooler Runs For Kansas Governor Seat: 16-Year-Old Democrat Promises ‘Radical Change’


A Wichita high schooler wants to become the next governor of Kansas and he doesn’t even care if he cannot vote for himself since he is still too young to exercise his right to suffrage.

Sixteen-year-old Jack Bergeson is running for the Kansas governor seat as a Democrat in the 2018 race and wants to give the people of the state another option, per The Kansas City Star and the Associated Press.

While he may seem too young for the position or any state candidate at that, his plan actually has legal basis as Kansas secretary of State’s Office Director of Elections Bryan Caskey revealed to The Kansas City Star as echoed by Governing that Kansas law does not specify any qualification for a governor of the state.

“Under Kansas law, there is no law governing the qualifications for governor, not one. So there’s seriously nothing on the books that lays out anything, no age, no residency, no experience. Nothing.”

Because of this, the 16-year-old Wichita high schooler who is currently in his third year at The Independent School was motivated to run for the position even though he cannot even vote yet.

This, says young Bergeson, is his way of “giving the people of Kansas a chance.”

“Let’s try something new that has never really been tried anywhere else before,” he said.

“I think if you offer the people of Kansas something radical, something new so then that shows that we can move in a new direction, I think that will put the Democratic Party in a good position to win the seat next year.”

Based on his statement, the 16-year-old Wichita high schooler vying to become the next Kansas governor wants “radical change” particularly in the state’s health care system. He also said that he supports the legalization of medical marijuana in Kansas and is open to legalizing its recreational use as well.

Moreover, the young Democrat admitted that he is a bit more conservative on the matter of gun rights as he supports laws that let people openly carry their arms.

Because of his age, Bergeson’s candidacy has also piqued Hollywood’s interest as he was interviewed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! via satellite. During the interview, the 16-year-old Wichita high schooler revealed the moment when he started to become interested in politics and what pushed him to act on it himself.

“Ever since Governor Brownback and Trump, I’ve started to notice that politics is kind of degenerating in our country, and we need the younger generation to get involved in order to fix that.”

He also brushed off Kimmel’s joke about running for the student council instead by saying that that would not have had the same impact for the youth of Kansas.

During the conversation, Bergeson also revealed that he will be running with his classmate, Alexander Cline, who will become his lieutenant governor if all things work out as they planned.

[Image by Abscent84/iStock]

While Jack’s candidacy is a bit odd because of his age, political observers like Emporia State University political scientist Michael Smith admitted that having him on the Kansas governor seat race may actually yield good results for the state if only to make youth get involved in politics more.

“If this guy is at all reasonable, it could be a very good thing,” he told The Kansas City Star.

“It’s always such challenge to get young people to politically engage…. I’m not saying he’ll win the nomination or anything, but if he could talk to other, maybe not 16-year-olds but people just turning 18 and get them to engage, I mean it could be a really good thing.”

Aside from the Wichita high schooler, other candidates for Kansas governor include former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, Olathe doctor Arden Andersen, former state Secretary of Agriculture Josh Svaty, and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

[Featured Image by Win McNamee/Getty Images]

Share this article: Wichita High Schooler Runs For Kansas Governor Seat: 16-Year-Old Democrat Promises ‘Radical Change’
More from Inquisitr